Feed mechanism for machine guns



In Vex tar 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w. SWARTZ FEED MECHANISM FOR MACHINE GUNS Filed Jan. 11, 19-40v w m w m s m L J Jan. .4, 1944.

Jan. 4, 1944. 2,338,270

FEED MECHANISM FOR MACHINE GUNS F iled Jan. 11, 1940 2 Sheets-:Shr-et 2 Patented Jan. 4, 1944 UNITED STAT 1 'assstzro FEED FOR MACHINE GUNS N William L. Swartz, Wethersfield, Conn., .assignor to Colts .Patent Fire ArmsManufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut 7 Application many 11, 1940, Serial No. 313,408

4 Claims. ('01. 89-33) I I I to which the invention particularly relates and The present invention relates to a feed mechanism particularly adapted for use with oras'a part of an automatic firearm of the character disclosed in Patents Nos.'1,525,065, 1,525,066 and 1,692,328, issued in the name' of John M. Browning. i Y

The general object of the invention is to provide a means for controlling and regulating the downward feeding movements of the cartridges after they have been separated from the feeder which carries them into the gun. In accordance with the invention I prevent jams such as have sometimes occurred in guns of this type.

In the accompanying drawings one suitable embodiment of the invention is shown, but it will be understood that the drawings are intended for illustrative purposes only and are not .to be relied upon as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of feeding mechanism embodying the invention, the top cover being omitted to clearly show other parts. In this view the feed slide and associated parts are shown in'the positions which-they occupy when the gun is idle after firing a series of rounds.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line 2 -2 of Fig.1. In this view the top cover is shown. I

Fig. 3 is'a. fragmentary side view of the feed of the feed mechanism and of certain other portions of the gun, the parts being in the same position as in Fig. 1. In this view the right hand side plate of the gun is omitted in order to show certain parts within the casing and a portion of the, right side wall of the feedbox is broken away, some of the interior parts of the feed mechanism being shown in section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the front portion of the feed mechanism, this view being similar to Fig. 1 but showing the stop in its inoperative position.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the feed slide and associated parts moved in the feeding direction so as to bring a cartridge to the central plane of the gun ready to be pushed forward into the chamber of the barrel.

Fig. 6 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 3, but showing the parts in the same relative positions as in Fig. 5. In this view the barrel and barrel extension are shown in vertical central section. I T

The drawings fully show the feed mechanism they also'show certain other portions of the gun with which the feedmechanism directly cooperates. For details of the gun which are not herein fully shownor described, referencemay be had to the before mentioned Browning patents.

The gun, as shown, comprises a frame or breech casing which is rectangular inform and adapted to contain the breech and firing mechanism. The casing comprises two vertical side plates l and 2, provided respectively at their tops with inturned flanges l and 2; H r

Projecting forward from the casing is a barrel 3 of which only the breech end is shown, this end being chambered at 3 Connected with the barrel 3 is a barrel extension 4 which is bifurcated, having two separated arms l -and 4 which extend rearward within the casing. The barrel and barrel extension are movable longitudinally rearward upon recoil and are suitably guided, such guiding being effected in part by the top flanges l and 2 of. the side plates l and 2.

Also longitudinally movable within the casing is a lock frame 5 carrying a charger 6. In the normal functioning of the gun, as fully described in the aforesaid patents, the barrel, barrel extension andlock frame initially move rearward in unison upon'recoil. The barrel and barrel extension immediately return forward to the position shownin Fig. 3 but the lock frame and charger are held in the rear position as shown bymeans-of a dog 1 engaging a notch (i= in the charger. By means of suitable reaction springs, not shown, the lock frame and charger are biased for forward movement when released by, the

dog. 1

Carried by the casing at the top, thereof is a feed box 8 which is preferably rectangular in form, having side walls 9 and I0 and front'and rear walls Hand I2. The side walls 9 and it have depending portions which fit against and are secured to the corresponding side plates l and 2 of the main casing. The feed box preferably has a hinged cover 13 which is shown in Fig. 2 but omitted from the other figures.

Openings 9* and II!* are provided respectively in the side walls Sand in of the feed box and a guide member Hi extends transversely between the said side walls adjacent the said openings and near the top of the box. The said openings in association with the said guide member l4 and in association with other guide members to be described, provide a transverse feed channel for receiving a cartridge feeder with cartridges there'- in. The opening 9 at the left side is of such size as to receive the cartridges, while th opening 19* at the right side need only be large enough to permit the exit of the feeder.

The cartridge feeder is shown at 15, the main body portion thereof being formed of sheet metal and bent to the shape of an inverted U, as shown in Fig. 3. The depending side "flanges on the feeder body' are provided with spaced notches or recesses to receive the cartridges, the cartridges being held in place by mean of spring clips It; H5 as shown in Figs. 2 and -3. The top portion of the feeder body is transversely slotted at Hi for engagement with the feed pawl to be described. These slots have the same spacing as the cartridges. Preferably the feeder is reversible and it is therefore also transversely slotted at [5 I5 for engagement with the feed pawl when the feeder is in reversed position. The body ofthe feeder is also provided at the sides with notches I5, [5 which serve'a purpose to be presently described. These notches have the same spacing as the cartridges.

For supporting and guiding the feeder and the cartridges therein, there are provided two cam plates ll, Il-which are secured to the flange 2 of the right hand side plate 2 as shown in Fig. 2. These cam plates are so positioned that the U- shaped body of the feeder fits over them with the depending side flanges at the sides of the plates and with the horizontal top portion of the feeder engagedwithandguidedbythehorizontal top faces of the plates. The cam plates I7, I! have downward facing cam surface I71 which engage the cartridges to force them downward out of engagement with the clips l6 when the feeder is moved to carry each successive cartridge to the central plane of the gun. The cams move the cartridge downward from the position shown at A in Fig. 2. to the position shown at C.

Transversely movable in suitable grooves in the guide member I4 is a feed slide I8. This feed slide carries a pivoted feed pawl l9 which is biased in the downward direction so as to engage the feeder at one or another of the notches 15 15 The pawl l9 carries a stud 2B which projects upward through a hole lfi in the slide. This stud serves to enable the operator to lift the pawl if it hould be desired to disengage it from the feeder for any purpose. 1

For operating the feed slide there is provided a feed lever 2| which is horizontally pivoted at 22 in a bracket 23 secured to the right side wall of the feed box. The bracket 23 is provided with spring pressed plungers 24 and 25 which serve to cushion the movement of the lever near the ends of its path of oscillation. A bell crank lever 26 is pivoted at 21 for movement about a vertical axis, the said lever being carried by a bracket 28 secured to the walls of the feed box. The arm of the lever 25 which extends toward the right is provided with a notch which receives a vertical cylindrical head on a stud 29 pivoted in the feed lever 2|. (See Fig. 1.) The arm of the bell crank lever which extends forward is provided with a depending stud 3.0 which enters a slot at the rear end of a connecting lever 3|. This, lever 3| is movable about a vertical axis at 32, being carried by a rearward extension of the transverse guide member Id. At the forward end of the lever 3| i a depending stud 33 which enters a transverse slot 18* in the feed slide l8. When the feed lever is moved forward from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. '5, the bell crank 26 is moved in the counter-clockwise direction and the connecting lever 3| is moved in the clockwise direc tion, thus moving the feed slide toward the right;

' moves to its rearrnost position as shown by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 3, the tud 35 reaches a position behind the feed lever, the feed lever having been momentarily pushedupward in opposition to the spring pressed plunger 25. As the barrel and barrel extension move forward to the position shown by full lines in Fig. 3, which is the same position shown in Fig. 6, the feed lever is. moved forward thus moving the parts All and late the positions shown in Fig. 5, in the manner already described. As soon as the stud moves forward far enough to disengage the feed lever 2 l, the feed slide and its associated parts are immediately returned to the positions shown in Fig. 1, this being effected by a biasing means which will be presently described. While the feed slide and associated parts are ordinarily returned by the biasing means, it should be observed that the feed lever 2| would in any event be moved rearward by the stud 34 upon the next recoil movement of the barrel extension.

Accidentalor unintended retrograde movement of the feeder is prevented by a spring-pressed pawl 35 on the guide member it, this pawl engaging one of the notches |5 in the feeder. The pawl has a finger 35 which can be manually engaged to release the pawl when desired.

.A carrier 36 is connected with the bracket 25 for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis at 31. The main body of the carrier 36 is located centrally between the side walls of the feed box and it is normally above the foremost cartridge being fed into the gun. The carrier is normally held in its upper position as shown in Figs. 1

' and 3 by means ofa carrier catch 33 carried by a bracket-39 and connected for pivotal movement about a vertical axis at 49. A spring pressed plunger M tends to hold the carrier catch in its operative position as shown at Fig. 1.

The before mentioned dog 1 is connected with the rear portion of the carrier 36 for relative movement about a horizontal axis at 42. A spring pressed plunger 42* serves to bias the carrier and the dog for movement in opposite directions, the carrier being biased in the clockwise direction and the dog being biased in the counter-clockwise direction.

Carried by the left arm Q of the barrel extension is an ejector G3 controlled by a cam 44 secured to the flange 1 of the side plate I as shown in Fig. 6. A spring 45 seated in a recess in the said arm l presses against a lateral extension on the ejector and tends to move it upward. The ejector has a portion 43 which projects inward, so as to be in position to engage a cartridge, when in the position shown at D in Figs. 2 and. 6.

Two lugs 46, 46 project forward from the lower portion of the carrier 36, these lugs being positioned at opposite sides of the central vertical plane of the gun and being positioned immediately beneath the rear portion of the foremost cartridge when it first reaches central position.

In the normal functioning of the gun, the bar rel extension in moving from the dotted line position in Fig. 3 to=the full line position in Fig. 3, moves the feed lever 2| in the counter clockwise direction and moves the feed slide to the position shown in Fig. 5, this being effected in the manner already described. The feed slide carries the foremost cartridge to the center of the gun, the cartridge in so moving being forced downward by the cam plates H, H at least to 2 and 3. This permits the front. end to move downward into engagementwith the transverse connecting portion A3 of thebarrel extension. The. clockwise movement of a the carrier almost immediately withdraws the lugs 46, 68 toward the rear and the cartridge is then caught and momentarily heldby the projectionflt of the ejector 43. It is then approximately in the positionD shownin Fig. 6.

'My invention particularly relates to the lugs 46, '46. Without these lugs there would be a tendency for the rear end of the cartridge to sometimes move downward too rapidly, thus tilting, the front end upward and causing it to jam against the upper part of thebarrel above the chamber, especially when long cartridges of the same caliber are used. In guns where the carrier engages the" cartridges forwardly of the feeder the upward tilting of the forward ends of the cartridges would not take place. However, in the case of guns devised to handle long cartridges such as disclosed in the present application, the cartridges are engaged by the carrier at the rear of the feeder so that pressure is applied on the rear ends of the cartridges tending to tilt them so that their front ends can jam the upper part of the barrel above the chamber. The present invention avoids this by providing means to support at least momentarily the rear ends of the cartridges when they are being moved downward by the carrier.

The clockwise movement of the carrier 36 about its axis at 31 moves the axis at 42 upward. The dog I is provided with rearward projecting tail I which rests upon the charger 5. The upward movement of the forward end of the dog causes the tooth 1 to be withdrawn from the notch 6, as shown in Fig. 6, thus releasing the lock frame and the charger and permitting them to move forward under the influence of the reaction springs. The charger thereupon engages the rear end of the cartridge and pushes the cartridge forward into the chamber 3 of the barrel.

As soon as the cartridge is fully entered in the chamber 3 the breech block 41 (shown in Fig. 6) is moved upward behind the cartridge to close the breech. If the trigger is being held, firing occurs automatically and the barrel, barrel extension and lock frame move to the rear ward positions shown in Fig. 3. During rearward movement, the empty shell is extracted by an extractor (not shown) and elected downward by the ejector 43. Unless the feed lever 2| has already beenmoved rearward by the biasing means, .it isiso moved by the stud Men the barrel extension. .During rearward movement of the barrel extension, a cam 48 on the right hand arm thereof engages alug 49 on the carrier to move the carrier upward into the position shown in Fig. 3where it is automatically engaged by the carrier" catch 38; The charger and lock frame aremomentarily held in rearward position by the dog "I but the barrel and barrel extension immediately move forward, the-feeding of another cartridge being effected in the manner already fully described. If the trigger is being held, the described movements continue in rapid succession until all of the cartridges in the feeder have been fired. After the firing of the last cartridge, the parts; are retained in the positions shown by full lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

The feeder I5 may carry five or more cartridges-and this feeder with its cartridges is inserted manually prior to firing. In order to assist the perator n quickly Putting the feeder in place, a supportingshelf 50 may be provided at the left-or entrance side of the-gun.

.lThe stop. 5! and the parts directly associated therewith do not constitute any part of the present invention, this stop and the associated parts being disclosed and claimed in the copending application in the name of Frederick T. Moore for Feed mechanism for machine guns, Serial No. 305,240, filed November 20, 1939. r

The stop 5| prevents-inadvertent manual overfeeding of the cartridges, and it may be moved out of its normalposition by a hand lever 52. Fig. 4 shows the stop 5| in an inoperative position. The lever 52 has a rearward extension 52 which'is engaged by the feed slide is. When the slide is moved to feed a cartridge the lever 52 is moved in the counter-clockwise direction, thus moving the stop 5! to an inoperative position and permittingfeeding of the cartridge.

' What I claim is:

1. In an automaticfirearm, the combination of a casing and feed box having a transverse feed channel adapted for receiving a feeder with cartridges therein. a barrel projecting forward from the casing, a reciprocating member in the casing at the rear of the barrel, a feed slide movable transversely in timed relationship with the reciprocating member and serving to move the feeder intermittently through the feed channel, a carrier movably mounted adjacent said feed channel and having a cartridge engaging portion normally disposed above the cartridges when passing through the feed channel and adapted for automatic movement downward into en agement with the upper portion of the foremost cartridge in the feeder near the end of each feeding movement of the feeder whereby said foremost cartridge is moved downward into the path of the reciprocating member so that said cartridge can be engaged thereby and pushed forward into the chamber of the barrel, and means fixed to and movable with said carrier for supporting the lower portion of the rear end of each cartridge at the instant of engagement thereof by said portion of the carrier to momentarily prevent downward movement of said rear end of the cartridge with respect to the carrier, said means being moved by said carrier from engagement with the said rear end of said cartridge as said portion of the carrier moves downward and prior to the engagement of said cartridge by said reciprocating member.

2. In an automatic firearm, the combination of a casing and feed box having a transverse feed channel adapted for receiving a feeder with cartridges therein, a barrel projecting forward from the casing, a reciprocating member in the casing at the rear of the barrel, a feed slide movable transversely in timed relationship with the reciprocating member and serving to move the feeder intermittently through the feed channel, a carrier pivotally mounted adjacent said feed channel and having a cartridge engaging portion normally disposed above the cartridges. when passing through the feed channel and adapted for automatic movement downward into engagement with the upper portion of the foremost cartridge in the feeder near the end of each feeding movement of the feeder whereby said foremost cartridge is moved downward into the path of the reciprocating member so that said cartridge can be engaged thereby and pushed forward into the chamber of the barrel, and means fixed to said carrier below the pivotal axis thereof for supporting the'lower portion of the rear end of each cartridge at the instant of engagement thereof by said portion of the carrier to momentarily prevent downward movement of said rear end of the cartridge with respect to the carrier, said means being movable rearward by said carrier from engagement with said rear end of said cartridge as said portion of the carrier moves downward.

3. In an automatic firearm, the combination of a casing and feed box having a transverse feed channel adapted for receiving a feeder with cartridges therein, a barrel projecting forward from the casing, a reciprocating member in the -L casing at the rear of the barrel, 2. feed slide movable transversely in timed relationship with the reciprocating member and serving to move the feeder intermittently through the feed channel, a carrier having a cartridge engaging portion normally disposed above the cartridges when passing through the feed channel and automatically operative near the end of each feeding movement of the feeder for engaging the upper portion of the foremost cartridge and move it downward into the path of the reciprocating member so that it can be thereby pushed forward into the chamber of the barrel, and a lug carried by the carrier and movable therewith for supporting the rear end of each cartridge at the I instant of engagement thereof by the carrier to momentarily prevent downward movement of the said rear end with respect to the carrier.

4. In an automatic firearm, the combination of a casing and feed box having a transverse feed channel adapted for receiving a feeder with cartridges therein, a barrel projecting forward from the casing, a reciprocating member in the casing at the rear of the barrel, a feed slide movable transversely in timed relationship with the reciprocating member and serving to move the feeder intermittently through the feed channel, a carrier pivotally mounted adjacent said feed channel and having a cartridge engaging portion normally disposed above the cartridges when passing through the feed channel and adapted for automatic movement downward into engagement with the upper portion of the foremost cartridge in the feeder near the end of each feeding movement of the feeder whereby said foremost cartridge is moved downward into the path of the reciprocating member so that said cartridge can be engaged thereby and pushed forward into the chamber of the barrel, and a lug fixed to said carrier below the pivotal axis and rearward of said portion thereof to support the lower portion of the rear end of each cartridge at the instant of engagement thereof by said portion of the carrier to momentarily prevent downward movement of said rear end of the cartridge with respect to the carrier, said lug being movable rearward by said carrier from engagement with said rear end of said cartridge as said portion of the carrier moves downward.

WILLIAM L. SWARTZ. 

